Stakeholders from all over the country headed to Negros Occidental on May 8, 2024 for the Shaping the Sustainable Future of Sugarcane Production in the Philippines Forum held at Nature’s Village Resort, Talisay City.
IN PHOTOS:
LEFT – Mr. Joseph Conrad Ledesma, SIFI Treasurer, takes the stage to impart his experiences as an active sugar planter in the Hawaiian-Philippine Company sugar milling district.
RIGHT – Mr. Alan Gensoli, CONFED Director, presides the second panel including former Negros Occidental Governor Rafael Coscolluela, URC Managing Director of Sugar & Renewables Renato Cabati, SRA RDE Deputy Administrator Atty. Ignacio Santillana, Dr. Karen Thivya Lourdes from Nestle Global, Rafael Vaya of ASR Group, and Heather Ducharme of Avon International.
IN PHOTOS:
LEFT – Alexander Canto, former Chairman of NARC; Pamela Lintoco, Chairwoman of DFFWA; Rodolfo Montejo, Chairman of GARC; Lito Omay, Chairman of HABARAC.
RIGHT – RSS and RAC Agriculturists, with Julito Celis of NARC, dressed in the personal protective equipment (PPE) apparel for sugarcane field workers.
With different issues currently faced by the Philippine sugar industry, needs for continuous support from the stakeholders and the government agencies have been raised. It was also said that farmers are receptive towards training and access to high yield varieties and technical assistance, contributing to the community’s continued interest towards the program.
“As we are in a time of great challenge and also of great possibilities, may this forum enable us to further our collective goal to sustain and uplift our sugar industry and the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos depending on it,” Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said in his speech.
IN PHOTO (L-R, top to bottom): Edith Y. Villanueva, SIFI President & COO; Dr. Aladino Moraca, CPSU President; Andrew Eusebio Tan, PhD, Vice-President for Research, Extensions, and Intellectual Property of CHMSU; Rhoderick K. Samonte, Director for Internationalization and External Relations of CHMSU; Karen Thivya Lourdes of Nestle Global; Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson; Rafael Vaya of ASR Group; Terence Uygongco, President of PSMA.
The sugar industry stakeholders have also called upon the government to explore the expansion of agrarian reform programs to increase the production of sugarcane tonnage per hectare.
Multiple interests were shown in support of the Responsible Sourcing from Smallholders (RSS) Program and the Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Mitigation (RAC) Program in Negros Occidental. Hence, opportunities for collaboration and new partnerships from both the public and private sector to support these programs beyond northern Negros Occidental are being welcomed.
The organizations which joined the Forum were:
